Member Profile: Alrick Brown

Tiffany Bradley | Apr 5, 2011 8:00 am

Director Alrick Brown spoke with us this week about his fiscally sponsored film project. Kinyarwanda, a fictional recounting of intersecting lives during the Rwandan genocide, explores how different communities worked together to protect the vulnerable. After winning this year’s World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance, the producers are taking the film across the country. Alrick took a second to tell us about his amazing process, and what’s next.

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How did you get involved in filmmaking?

I love movies. I love teaching. I became a filmmaker because I wanted to have a bigger classroom and wanted to change the world using the medium of film.

The film’s Executive Producer, Ishmael Ntihabose, and a former Peace Corps buddy who is now co-producer invited me to Rwanda. They asked me to help out on a film about a priest who sought shelter in a mosque and worked with an Imam to save lives. When I got to Rwanda and met real survivors and heard some of their stories our script evolved, including the love story.

The most distinct thing about KINYARWANDA is its storytelling structure. It is great example of form meeting function. The intertwining stories of the characters should remind audiences of Crash, Pulp Fiction, Babel, & Amores Perros. While many of the other films delved into the politics associated with the 1994 genocide Kinyarwanda emphasizes the people. While the other showed violence, corpses, and death, KINYARWANDA emphasizes life. In KINYARWANDA the genocide is a tragic backdrop for very familiar human experiences.

How did you overcome the difficulties of shooting in a foreign language for your first feature film?

In Rwanda people speak multiple languages (English, French, Kinyarwanda, Swahili) so before any conversation could begin we had to verify who was speaking what, and then we could precede. I am fortunate that I also speak French, so I at least had two languages covered. My crew, my cast, my Assistant Director, and my casting director were instrumental in helping navigate the language terrain. The good thing about a situation like this is that you have to listen with your heart and not just your ears. You have to speak with your heart and not just your tongue. Shooting my first feature in a foreign language was blessing.

What have you learned in marketing Kinyarwanda for audiences at Sundance and beyond?

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We went into Sundance with a marketing and distribution plan in place as well as a Producer of Marketing and Development. This was a result of our affiliation with IFP 2010 Narrative Lab. We implemented our plan at Sundance, engaging our audience on the street, online, and in the theaters. Outreach was also a key part of this plan. We contacted community leaders before arriving at Sundance to share the message of the film. Our audiences came out and they spread the word. This is a part of the strategy we are taking beyond Sundance. We are building and engaging our audiences on multiple levels with the Sundance stamp of approval.

How has your membership with Fractured Atlas helped you as an artist?

It’s great working with Fractured Atlas. Fiscal Sponsorship was key to my efforts as a film student - now with my first feature film - and raising money for the social component of our work. Fractured Atlas’s fiscal sponsorship program has been integral. We received a grant from Cinereach and without Fractured Atlas affiliation we would not have been eligible. But the coolest thing is that Fractured Atlas staff actually attended our screenings. That is above and beyond and it is an honor.

What’s next?

I have a few scripts going right now and I am negotiating my next feature with a very prominent independent film producer. We should be going into production mid-2011. I am also co-writing two other features slated for production in 2012. It should be a fun year. Become a fan of my first feature film and tell your friends, or attend an upcoming screening:

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